Building comp for friend

[NYHoustonman]

Everyone's going off to college, etc., and my friend wanted a new computer. He mentioned that maybe I could build him one, and that's probably what we're gonna do.
What I have right now is:

Asus K8V SE Deluxe
Athlon 64 3200+
OCZ enhanced latency series dual channel 512MBx2 DDR400
Western Digital SE 120GB 7200RPM
1.44MB floppy drive (black)
Samsung 52x CD-ROM (black)
Samsung 52x32x52x16 DVD/CD-RW combo (black)

And for a video card, I'm going to recommend a 6800 GT... Basically I'm trying to go one level below top of the line so as to not make him overpay. Is there anything in there (besides case/PSU, speakers, monitor, etc. which will be dealth with a little later) that anyone would change?

 

[brunswickite]

Is he a gamer?

 

[NYHoustonman]

That he is. At the moment, his computer can't handle much of anything outside of a lil Warcraft 3, and he plays Far Cry on mine all the time.

 

[NYHoustonman]

Ordering the parts today.

 

[sisooktom]

Why the K8V when you could go for NF3-250?

 

[mechBgon]

Also, the Athlon64 3000+ is very very close to the performance of the 3200+, for quite a bit less money. With the savings, you could spend more elsewhere.

I'd steer clear of ball-bearing hard drives like the WD Special Editions. Sometimes they end up making a loud bearing whine (and sometimes they don't). This is especially something to think about in a dorm situation where maybe his roommate or himself will need to concentrate while studying. For that reason, maybe some good headphones would be nice too

Since you don't have a case/power supply or an OS listed, I'm guessing you have those, but hopefully the PSU is a good one? Name-brand 350W+ unit at least?

 

[Nick5324]

What about a DVD burner? If he has no interest in burning DVD's, forget it; but if he does, they have come down in price. I also second the suggestion for the 3000+ instead of the 3200+

 

[NYHoustonman]

I've generally had good experiences with Asus, and they don't have any NF3 motherboards listed (there's a socket 940 one, but I'm not gonna make him shell out the cash for an Athlon 64 FX). One question regarding motherboards; would it be worth it to wait for the socket 939 A8V to be in stock?

As far as the processor is concerned, money really is of no consequence, I just don't want to shell out $600+ for something marginally faster than the rest.

I actually switched out the SE and went for a 160GB regular WD HD, as of the moment.

I am waiting for his decision as far as a case, as he's rather picky. I will make sure it includes a decent PSU, tho.

Nope, no need for a DVD burner.

 

[sisooktom]

Not worth it to get a 939 IMHO. More $$$ and very little difference in performance. And considering the extra $$$, the "It's more upgradeable" argument doesn't hold water.

 

[imported_NoGodForMe]

Let your friend do most of the work, otherwise you become tech support when things don't work out.

I don't mess with other people's computers. Too much liability, and then they call me with dumb questions all the time. I don't have time to trouble some noob over the phone while I'm surfing this site. I only help my parents.

 

[NYHoustonman]

I'm fine with it; as it is, I help everyone with their computers. And if I were to have him do most of the work, he would be getting an Alienware.

 

[nick1985]

get this mobo

 

[mrSHEiK124]

well, i just finished building a nearly identical pc for a friend, except it was over a month ago so he got a 5900XT till the 6800GT is availible (we are upgrading at the same time, cept i am stepping up to the likes of an nForce4 S939 mobo with an FX-55)
he got:
K8V SE Dlx
A64 3200+
Zalman CNPS-7000A-AlCu
OCZ Enhanced Latency 1 GB (2x512)
Pioneer DVR-107
Samsung 52x32x52x16 DVD/CD-RW combo
Aspire X-Dreamer II Black Case
Enermax 470W Noisetaker
GFFX 5900 XT
160 GB Seagate drive, quiet as a bug

the system itself cost around 1400 total, and he added a Samsung 192T to his monster rig

 

[Lyfer]

I wouldn't, because once they have problems they are going to be bugging you like crazy unless they are paying you a hefty sum.


If you still are I'd get the budget Chaintech board and a Athlon 64 3000 with a SLK948.

 

[naruto1988]

everyone loves the AMD64. and why 3200 instead of 3000? 3000 saved me some money.

 

[NYHoustonman]

Aight, ordered the stuff. I went over everything with him, and we actually ordered a few parts that were even more expensive... The deal is he had some kind of settlement recently and had 24k coming to him, so money was almost not an object, but I still tried my best to be at least a little careful in selecting parts. We went for the 64 3400+, a DVD burner, and a Thermaltake Xaser V Damier 420W (one of the things I wouldn't have done, but IMO the case is the most personal part of a computer, so w/e...I like Antec). At this point, we'll be looking at that upcoming CompUSA deal for the video card.